TheHitchhikers GuideTo The Galaxy

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Baboge - the Word Game

Baboge is a word game that can be played anywhere at any time. Games can go on for days or even weeks and it has almost countless variations, making it a quite dynamic game.

Classic Baboge

Baboge is basically simple, but can quickly become complicated. This is why it is so much fun.

Rules

If a player says a word that begins with the letter 'b' then that player must immediately say 'Baboge'.

After the player says a word that begins with 'b', they can be slugged1 in the arm by any other player for as many times as this second player wants until the first player says 'Baboge'.

If one player hits a second player because they thought that they said a word starting with 'b', but the second player in fact did not, then the second player can hit the first player once, but may save that one hit for any time during the game.

When a player says they have finished playing, they have finished playing. This will hopefully avoid nasty confrontations in the car park/gents.

Safety Rule

A suggested rule is that you should only hit in the arm, chest, or back area. (the idea is to make your friend say 'ouch!' not to lose their friendship or cause serious injury).

Example

This is one of the most fun games to explain the rules for while you are trying to play:

You can't say anything that starts with a 'b', Baboge, unless you say 'Baboge', Baboge after it. If you don't say 'Baboge', Baboge, after a word that starts with 'b', Baboge any player can hit you until you say 'Baboge', Baboge.

Inevitably the novice you just said this to will say something like:

Do you want your pencil back, Baboge, Baboge?

...and then they will get hit, and this is why: This is the Baboge equivalent of a double negative; the second 'Baboge' is a new B-word. The first 'Baboge' cancelled the word 'back' and the new player is confused because the rules of the game were explained while a game was in progress. We will go over the example again and this time when 'Baboge' is used, cancelling a word, it will be in bold:

You can't say anything that starts with a 'b', Baboge, unless you say 'Baboge', Baboge after it. If you don't say 'Baboge,' Baboge, after a word that starts with 'b', Baboge any player can hit you until you say 'Baboge,' Baboge

How to Win

As in life, there are no winners or losers. It's fun just to play.

Variation

The variations on this game are only limited by your imagination...

Drinking Version

Probably the version for which this game is best-suited. Instead of being hit, a player has to drink if another player says 'Drink' before the first player can say 'Baboge'.

Multiple Games

Apply the standard rules of Baboge to other letters with babble-'safe' words (ie, those that do not exist, or only marginally exist, in the English language but sound funny). For example, a word that starts with 'k' must be followed by 'Kaze'. Your safe word should start with the same letter as the instigator - the game is more fun that way and harder to explain to others while you're playing. Combine your new letter and word with Baboge. An example would go like this: 'I know, Kaze, how to make Bat, Baboge, pie'2.

Any Position

Instead of playing with a word that starts with 'b', play with it in any position; for example words that have 'b' as their second letter.

The 'S' Version

You can't say any word with has an 's' in it without saying the safe word, but you can say something that starts with 's'. This can be done with any letter, of course, but it's best to use a letter that is used a lot (take a look at this last sentence and you can see how complicated that this particular variation could become).

There are so many more variations, you can even combine the variations above to make a super game. If you come up with a new and super-fun variation, please post it below.

1To slug (vb. trans.) - American slang 'to hit'.2It will be noted that using the letter 'k' is a particularly evil ploy as it is not always phonetically pronounced, as in 'know'.

Infinite Improbability Drive

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